Shamshiry

Panir or goat's cheese is an extremely delicious cheese, which the Persians habitually eat. If you walk down the avenue in Tehran during lunch hour, you will find the mason, and cobbler, the shopkeeper – everybody – eating bread and cheese. Very often Persians eat Panir with raw vegetables and herbs (radishes, basil, scallions, tarragon, or fresh mint). It pleases the palate

Mast, known as yogurt in America, is used extensively in Persia. It is the food of the rich as well as the poor. It is said that Genghis Khan lived on it during his long marches through Mongolia and the Persian Empire when he couldn't obtain other food. This yogurt appetizer is served with diced cucumbers, chopped fresh dill and other herbs

The Middle Easterners have known mast, now very popular in the western world as yogurt, for centuries. It is widely believed to contribute to long life and good health. The unique tart flavors of the yogurt and shallots make for a delicious dish

The preparation of polo is indeed an art and the Persians are considered the connoisseurs of this art. Persians consider polo as the essence of an exquisite dinner. This colorful and exotic dish is topped with syrupy sour cherries. It's particularly good when chicken is included

This is one of the most excitingly different, unusual, and demanding of the Persian rice dishes. But it is also one of the most rewarding. The sweet rice is seasoned with spices, perfumed with sugared orange peel, and made crunchy with pistachios and almonds. It tastes as if imaginative honeybees created it

This fragrant and devastatingly delicious dish is made with dill, a most delicate herb. Persians have favored dill for many years and use it in many dishes. One of the more famous and extremely tasteful dishes is Baghali Polo, where dill is used in combination with rice and soft good tasting fava beans. It's a treat you will want to share

Kabob is the Persian word for meat or fowl cooked over a charcoal fire. There delicious strips of charcoal broiled ground meat are served with a snowy mound of rice topped with saffron. All the beef dishes achieve greatness when you add a raw egg yolk on the side, which you rapidly pour into the hot rice, continuing to toss it so that the egg coats all the grains as the heat cooks it. Stir in as much butter as you dare, and sprinkle in the brown powdered sumac that's in a shaker on the table. It's tart spiciness is irresistible

The finest of all Kabobs is Kabob Barg. The secret of good Chelo Kabob is in the marinating of the meat. There is an Old Persian tradition as to how one should eat Chelo Kabob. The proper way of serving it is to put plenty of Chelo on a plate, make a small hole in the center of it, put the egg yolk in it, then plenty of butter, and sprinkle sumac over it. Mix well and start treating your self to the elegant taste of Filet Mignon. Fine food at its best

Chelo Kabob is derived from two words: Chelo meaning cooked rice, and Kabob meaning open-flame broiled meat. The best Chelo Kabob was served at the Shamshiry restaurant in the Tehran bazaar. Whether it was the secret of the owner, nobody knows. But anybody who has tried this dish at the bazaar has never forgotten it. Now it's your chance to enjoy a combination of Chelo Kabob Kubideh and Chelo Kabob Barg. As it was prepared in Tehran, where Shamshiry was the hallmark for quality Kabob – The Best